Even more than other south east Asian states Burma is very
diverse, ethnically and linguistically. The Tibeto-Burman people,
the ancestors of the modern Burmans arrived about 500 BC. However,
there are many other ethnic groups. The British ruled these in
autonomous states, partly separate from Burma proper. The largest
group were the federated Shan states, ruled mostly by their traditional
rulers, though with a British Commissioner to supervise. In British
times these were not considered part of Burma itself.

The three Karen states were also ruled by the British but
like the native
states of India were considered bound to the Empire by treaty
rather than conquest, and were not part of Burma colony.

The first Burmese kingdom was founded about 1000 AD. It was
disrupted by a Mongol invasion in 1287. The kingdom was refounded
by the 16th century. It was conquered by the Mons (Khmers) in
1752 but regained independence in 1757. As with Tibet China has
claims on the kingdoms of the area, as tributaries. Probably
the current regime in China still regards Burma as in their sphere
of influence and votes against UN sanctions on the undemocratic
regime controlling Burma.

The British East India Company attempted to trade with the
area but failed to establish a base (factory). The British conquered
Burma in three wars ending in 1885. The first war was in 1823,
mainly to prevent the Burmese from occupying parts of Assam (now
in India). A war in 1852 led to the capture of Rangoon and the
setting up of a British administration in Lower Burma. The conquest
of Upper Burma occurred in 1885. After that the British made
Burma a province of India. From 1897 there was a local colonial
administration with an appointed Legislative Council. From 1923
the legislation in India that began to set up provincial parliaments
was applied to Burma, as a province of India. Local ministers
supervised local government functions.

There was a peasant pro-Buddhist rising in 1931 which led
to the British separating Burma from India in 1937. At that time
the British began organizing the country for "Dominion status" with a new constitution
providing responsible local government. There was an elected
House of Representatives and a partly elected Senate, with half
appointed by the British Governor. By the time the Japanese invaded
there was a Burmese Prime Minister and cabinet with the governor
retaining reserve powers.

What is the relevance of the above to what happened after
the second world war? If the British had continued to control
the colony they would probably have called a constitutional conference
which would have settled the problems of the many ethnic groups
and perhaps devised a constitution which recognised all their
needs. The Japanese occupation prevented that evolution. At the
end of the war the British left without developing any constitution.

The ethnic origin of the people is different from the people
of India. The dominant religion is Buddhism of the type found
in Tibet, from where the main languages come. However, the country
is also home to a number of other ethnic groups and is not at
all homogenous in population - the main root of the political
problems. As with many other British colonies the post-independence
governments failed to treat all the peoples equally.

It is surrounded by mountain ranges which made travel between
Burma and India difficult. The British failed to build either
a road connection or a railway into India. It was only in 1939
that a road was built to Yunnan in China. Thus from the British
point of view the country was connected to the rest of the empire
by sea (and later, by air).

The Japanese occupied the land from 1942 to 1945. While they
occupied the country the Japanese founded an army in their own
image - a very brutal and arrogant officer corps. Thus whereas
the British-trained Indian Army has not interfered in politics,
the Burmese army has run the country since 1962.

Burma became independent in 1948 but did not wish to join
the Commonwealth. U Nu was the Prime Minister at independence.
A coup in 1962 led by General Ne Win, the army chief, inaugurated
the Burmese Socialist Program Party which created a dictatorship, nationalized industry and
caused economic stagnation. He remained in power until replaced
by the governing generals who continued most of his policies.

The main problem of Burma, apart from the dictatorship, is
the rebellion of minority non-Burmese peoples, especially the
Karens who have been fighting for independence since 1950. They
were treated as a separate minority by the British. The dictatorship
itself may be partly a result of the difficulties the previous
civilian regime had with the rebellions, and its failure to come
to an agreement with them. As with many other former British
territories part of the problem is that the British colony included
areas that were not previously part of the Burmese kingdom.

The name of the country was changed to Myanmar by the military
regime following the 1990 aborted elections. They also changed
the name of the capital (to Yangon) and have moved the seat of
the government away from the city to a remoter and more defensible
area - harder for the ordinary people to reach.

Tacit support for the regime is coming from Thailand and China
who are trading with it and refuse to implement sanctions requested
by western nations and Japan. Since neither country has a democratic
regime, these are not sympathetic to encouraging democracy in
their neighbor.

Among the numerous atrocities of the regime is the violent
mass expulsion of the Rohinga Muslim minority to Bangladesh.
This has burdened Bangladesh with the problem of receiving refugees
in an overcrowded country.

Karen
The border area with Thailand and parts of the Irrawaddy Delta
are populated by this group who consider themselves different
from the Burmans. During the British period they were treated
differently and many were converted to Christianity. During the
war they fought against the Japanese on behalf of and with British
guerrilla forces (the Chindits). They were promised separate
independence by the British officers to encourage them to fight,
then ignored at the independence conference. Oppression by the
majority began almost immediately after independence and the
civil war has been going on ever since 1947.

By 1997 their territory had been reduced by the Burmese army
to a few enclaves.

12 January 2012 the government has announced a ceasefire agreement with the Karen fighters. Will this lead to a permanent peace?

Languages

Over 100 languages. but most are spoken by
the hill tribes.

Tibeto-Burman languages are related to the
Turkic languages of Central Asia.

The long standing single-party dictatorship (Burma Socialist
Program Party) of Ne Win apparently came to an end in 1988 with
riots by students and others who demanded free elections. The
government had to agree to elections.

The country was then ruled by the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC), probably still influenced by Ne Win. This government
repudiated the May 1990 election which the National League for
Democracy is believed to have won.

The National League is led by Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of
the first leader of independent Burma but she was put under house
arrest on 21 July 1989. The military have not allowed the elected
parliament to assemble and Suu Kyi remains in detention. She
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 but not permitted to
receive it. She is being held because she refuses to leave the
country or undertake not to take part in politics. She returned
to the country at the time of the elections after living in Britain
for many years (married to an Oxford academic).

It is believed that the present government is in fact a continuation
of the previous regime. It has changed its name to State Peace
and Development Council but remains a military dictatorship.
Ne Win, aged 92 in 2002, was said to have been under house arrest
himself following disagreements within the military regime. He
died in December 2002.

Those in power may fear being put on trial for their atrocities
if democracy arrives. Aung San was 'released' in July 1995. However,
she was soon after returned to house arrest with no freedom of
movement. On 6 May 2002 there were again reports of her release.
Time will show whether this leads to democracy. Her release might
have been the equivalent of the release of Nelson Mandela (if
it had been real).

It may be that the military were forced to act after a period
of sanctions by some important trading partners.

Until 2010 she remained under house arrest and her party was
suppressed.

In August 2007 the military government raised the price of
motor fuel arbitrarily by cutting subsidies, doubling petrol
and diesel, and quintupling compressed Natural Gas for buses.
As a result the cost of transport, especially for the poor, soared.
Mass demonstrations, especially by Buddhist monks, followed.
Could this be the beginning of the end of the military dictatorship?
The outcome probably depends on the attitude and actions of China
and India, neither of whom seem on the surface to be much bothered.

By 1 October 2007 it seemed the regime was fully in control
again, having arrested the demonstrating monks, killed some and
imprisoned others, and killing an unknown number of other people.

The BBC reports that many soldiers have deserted in silent
protest against the assault on the monks, and that the army is
now kidnapping children and forcing them to serve.

In May 2008 there was a catastrophic Cyclone (hurricane) that
devastated areas of the south, especially the Irrawaddy Delta
area, one of the main rice growing areas. The government seemed
unable to deal with the problem, but refused to let UN and other
foreign help come to the aid of the people. Maybe they should
be nominated for the Bad Government prize (if there were one).
Only Zimbabwe
would be a competitor.

The government called elections in November 2010, but the National
League for Democracy and Aung San Suu Kyi did not to take part.
International observers, in so far as they could see anything
from outside the country, are dubious about the honesty of the
elections, which saw a "victory" for the regime.

Shortly after the elections the regime declared that Aung
San Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest.

In October 2011 there are signs of a tentative relaxation of the dictatorship. Has the ruling clique thrown up a Gorbachov - someone with liberal ideas who has risen in the hierarchy, silently, until becoming president?

The National League has said that some of its members will stand in the elections in 2012.

Interesting reading

Emma Larkin - Secret Histories (finding George
Orwell in a Burmese Teashop) - the author travels to the places
where Orwell lived and talks to people about the dictatorship
- one of the worst in the world

The attempted autarky
of the Ne Win military socialist regime has had the usual effect,
a very low standard of living. Although complete state ownership
was supposed to have been ended after 1988 the economy remains
at a low level, except for the oil and gas industries. The Generals
are the ones who gain almost all the benefit.

The present regime is beginning to allow foreign companies
in to exploit oil reserves, timber and fishing. There are reports
of forest damage and over-fishing. SLORC hopes to be bailed out
by western and Chinese oil companies who are invited to take the gas fields
found in the Andaman Sea. Slave labor builds the roads and pipelines.

Commentators point out that the Generals, like many other
dictatorships understand nothing about economics and have ruined
the country (see Zimbabwe).

The military regime is permitting exploitation of the teak
forests by companies which are now restricted in neighboring
Thailand. The result is stripping of the forests which can be
expected to result in flooding, erosion and local climate change
as well as ruin for the forest peoples who rely on the native
forest for their traditional way of life.

AIDS is spreading from Thailand (to which some of the women
are lured to "work" in the brothels). The government
is said to have a policy of killing people infected with HIV.

The May 2008 Cyclone is an example of the extreme weather
events likely to be commoner as the sea surface warms up, and
as the sea level rises, making large areas of the country vulnerable
to flooding. In May 2008 the cyclone's low pressure caused the
sea level to rise and invade large areas of land, drowning possibly
100,000 people and poisoning the soil with salt. (The military dictatorship tried to refuse all international help but provided almost none of their own.)